Anyone still hoping it's Rafa?

[IslandExile]

I posted this a few days ago. It's a transcript of Mel discussing the appointment of a new manager with the owner-to-be....

====

MM: "Your Highness, I mean Your Excellency, I mean, oh heck...anyway, we have lined up Wayne Rooney to be the manager of your new toy, err, I mean club".

SK: "But Wayne Rooney is a player. He is England's record goalscorer. It is good for us that he plays more for England, no? Makes people know we are a great club".

MM: "Quite, well he could assist Liam Rosenior who is qualified to be a manager."

SK: "Never heard of him. Oh, did I see him on Sky Sports once?"

MM: "He's a fully qualified coach. OK, how about John Gregory to come in and ease Wayne Rooney into the job".

SK: "Ah, the purple one. He comes to me in Dubai, asking for work. How do you say....mmm....'wide boy'. No."

MM: "Well what about two managers that a lot of people think will prosper at a bigger club: Steve Cooper or Paul Cook?"

SK: "Who? Why do you bother me with these names? Next"

MM: "OK, sorry. How about Eddie Howe? He took Bournemouth up to the Premier League and kept them there?"

SK: "I do not see Bournemouth in the Premier League. Did he not spend lots of Russian rubles too? I thought you told me we do not have to buy any new players because we have lots of wonder kids".

MM: "Well the former England Manager Steve McClaren is available".

SK: "He's funny. Did you see that interview he gave with the Dutch accent and his hair, have you seen his hair? Next"

MM: "Another ex-England Manager: Sam Allardyce?"

SK: "Mmmmm, I like the way he does business. No. I want Rafa Benitez. Get me Rafa Benitez".

[IslandExile]

Anyhow, personally I think Rafa is quite defensively minded, perhaps even more so than Cocu.

Nevertheless, he was really popular at Liverpool and Toon, and successful wherever he's been, so he must have been doing something right.

So, although I'm not 100% enthusiastic, I would still prefer him to an even more dogmatic Allardyce or an overrated Howe, both of which tonight appear to be the only other contenders.

[IslandExile]

This is turning out to be my own personal thread... Nobody else prefer Rafa over the others?

Anyway, just had another thought...

As a measure, I mentioned Rafa was very popular at both Liverpool and Newcastle.

By way of contrast, despite his "successes", it seems to me that Allardyce was not widely adored at Sunderland, West ham or Newcastle and was bitterly disliked at Everton.

Despite Eddie Howe getting Bournemouth to the Premier League (by spending pots of money), their fans wanted him gone even before relegation was confirmed.

Clearly, the popularity ratings give an indication of a manager's connection with a club and its fans.

[Carl Sagan]

On your own, on your own, on your own... 

Seriously, I'm not very keen on any of Rafa, Howe or Allardyce, partly for the reasons you say. But not only is Rafa ultra defensive, I look at the job Steve Bruce (of all people) has been able to do at Newcastle and it shows me that Benitez was clearly incapable if getting anything like the best out of those players. 

I'd love Marco Silva but there have been no whispers. 

[IslandExile]

1 hour ago, Carl Sagan said:

I'd love Marco Silva but there have been no whispers. 

Good shout.

Hard done by at Everton but nearly saved Hull when lesser managers wouldn't have got close.

Was doing well at Watford until he did a McClaren.

Neither of those sound good but he's a better manager than his record above suggests.

[kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong]

It's not that I don't mind Rafa,I think most of us are just disillusioned with the constant rumours which appear to have zero basis in fact.

There's not really much point in speculating.

[Chester40]

28 minutes ago, kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong said:

It's not that I don't mind Rafa,I think most of us are just disillusioned with the constant rumours which appear to have zero basis in fact.

There's not really much point in speculating.

That's doubly true because we aren't 100% sure the takeover will go through...and if it does, what kind of ambition and money they will be bringing to the party. 

Impossible to safely speculate what kind of manager we want...older safe pair of hands that will cost a fortune, young potential.....but as long as its not Rooney I will feel positive, as he would represent my worst fears, cheap ambition. 

[Millenniumram]

There’s absolutely zero chance it’s going to be Rafa. God knows why people are betting on him.

[Anag Ram]

Yes I'd prefer Rafa. 

If we were near the top of the table he might have considered it but a championship relegation battle is not as sexy. 

[Brammie Steve]

6 hours ago, IslandExile said:

This is turning out to be my own personal thread... Nobody else prefer Rafa over the others?

Anyway, just had another thought...

As a measure, I mentioned Rafa was very popular at both Liverpool and Newcastle.

By way of contrast, despite his "successes", it seems to me that Allardyce was not widely adored at Sunderland, West ham or Newcastle and was bitterly disliked at Everton.

Despite Eddie Howe getting Bournemouth to the Premier League (by spending pots of money), their fans wanted him gone even before relegation was confirmed.

Clearly, the popularity ratings give an indication of a manager's connection with a club and its fans.

Rafa, great manager, he guided the great Liverpool team through a lot of their "Wilderness years" didn't he?"

At least he kept them in the same division!

(great tennis player though, women like him too!)?

[CornwallRam]

We are bottom of the 2nd tier. We've scored fewer goals than any other team in the history of this division at the quarter way mark. We're still under investigation for an FFP discrepancy. Our payroll was late a few months ago. Our owner wants out. Our prospective new owners could be anything from conmen to stellar investors. We have a famous skipper and managerial candidate who is, according to most outside Derby and maybe the man himself, bigger than the club. We don't own our stadium. Our leased training ground is mortgaged. A good proportion of our fanbase believes that we're far too good for Sam Allardyce.

Notions that we have to play 'good football' and bring through youngsters have been internalised within the psyche of many fans. All it does is make people believe that there's only one way for the club to be managed and increase hostility to many potential managers - the crazy thing is that that model has left us financially drained, needing to use creative accounting methods and at the bottom of the table. Ironically, the quest for 'good football' has bought mainly turgid, tippy-tappy rubbish anyway. To quote from Frozen - Let it go.

We are a basket case of a club. We aren't getting Rafa. People need to understand that in our situation Steve Cotterill or Lee Sharpe would be realistic appointments. If we get a halfway decent manager, the owner (whoever that currently is) will have pulled off a masterstroke. We can't be anti Allardyce, McClaren, Jakanovic(please), Warnock, Crowley, Wagner, Howe, Cook, Cooper or even Rowett. In our situation any of them or similar would be far better than we should be expecting. 

[BaaLocks]

28 minutes ago, CornwallRam said:

We are bottom of the 2nd tier. We've scored fewer goals than any other team in the history of this division at the quarter way mark. We're still under investigation for an FFP discrepancy. Our payroll was late a few months ago. Our owner wants out. Our prospective new owners could be anything from conmen to stellar investors. We have a famous skipper and managerial candidate who is, according to most outside Derby and maybe the man himself, bigger than the club. We don't own our stadium. Our leased training ground is mortgaged. A good proportion of our fanbase believes that we're far too good for Sam Allardyce.

Notions that we have to play 'good football' and bring through youngsters have been internalised within the psyche of many fans. All it does is make people believe that there's only one way for the club to be managed and increase hostility to many potential managers - the crazy thing is that that model has left us financially drained, needing to use creative accounting methods and at the bottom of the table. Ironically, the quest for 'good football' has bought mainly turgid, tippy-tappy rubbish anyway. To quote from Frozen - Let it go.

We are a basket case of a club. We aren't getting Rafa. People need to understand that in our situation Steve Cotterill or Lee Sharpe would be realistic appointments. If we get a halfway decent manager, the owner (whoever that currently is) will have pulled off a masterstroke. We can't be anti Allardyce, McClaren, Jakanovic(please), Warnock, Crowley, Wagner, Howe, Cook, Cooper or even Rowett. In our situation any of them or similar would be far better than we should be expecting. 

But, besdes that, all looking good?

[Rab a dab doo]

Well, could be just a bit better.

[oldtimeram]

2 hours ago, CornwallRam said:

We are bottom of the 2nd tier. We've scored fewer goals than any other team in the history of this division at the quarter way mark. We're still under investigation for an FFP discrepancy. Our payroll was late a few months ago. Our owner wants out. Our prospective new owners could be anything from conmen to stellar investors. We have a famous skipper and managerial candidate who is, according to most outside Derby and maybe the man himself, bigger than the club. We don't own our stadium. Our leased training ground is mortgaged. A good proportion of our fanbase believes that we're far too good for Sam Allardyce.

Notions that we have to play 'good football' and bring through youngsters have been internalised within the psyche of many fans. All it does is make people believe that there's only one way for the club to be managed and increase hostility to many potential managers - the crazy thing is that that model has left us financially drained, needing to use creative accounting methods and at the bottom of the table. Ironically, the quest for 'good football' has bought mainly turgid, tippy-tappy rubbish anyway. To quote from Frozen - Let it go.

We are a basket case of a club. We aren't getting Rafa. People need to understand that in our situation Steve Cotterill or Lee Sharpe would be realistic appointments. If we get a halfway decent manager, the owner (whoever that currently is) will have pulled off a masterstroke. We can't be anti Allardyce, McClaren, Jakanovic(please), Warnock, Crowley, Wagner, Howe, Cook, Cooper or even Rowett. In our situation any of them or similar would be far better than we should be expecting. 

Thank you Mel Morris for getting us into this awful situation.  Give yourself a pat on the back 

[Big Bad Bob]

FFS, what is wrong with some people? 

I don't normally get involved in the tittle tattle, but some people need to give their heads a wobble.

Derby County are a club steeped in history. We were one of the founding teams of the original football league. We currently have an owner who has invested millions in his own money and arguably more in his time and desire for the club. We have a fantastic modern stadium with a capacity of 33,597. We have an equally fantastic, and arguably better training facility and academy and products from the academy. There have been plenty of people that have been here (players and coaches) saying we are a premier league set up. We have a decent sized fan base selling 27 / 28k each home game and that is after 9 years in the Championship. If we were to get in the premier league we'd be selling every home game out and if we were to stay there, I'd argue that we could sell in excess of 40k tickets. 

Derby County has the potential to be a great club and would be an attractive proposition to anyone with passion and desire to achieve something. 

So how about lets stop with the negativity and get behind the owner, potential new owner / investor and manager? Covid-19 is depressing enough without the wrist slashers bringing the club down. 

[kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong]

2 hours ago, CornwallRam said:

We are bottom of the 2nd tier. We've scored fewer goals than any other team in the history of this division at the quarter way mark. We're still under investigation for an FFP discrepancy. Our payroll was late a few months ago. Our owner wants out. Our prospective new owners could be anything from conmen to stellar investors. We have a famous skipper and managerial candidate who is, according to most outside Derby and maybe the man himself, bigger than the club. We don't own our stadium. Our leased training ground is mortgaged. A good proportion of our fanbase believes that we're far too good for Sam Allardyce.

Notions that we have to play 'good football' and bring through youngsters have been internalised within the psyche of many fans. All it does is make people believe that there's only one way for the club to be managed and increase hostility to many potential managers - the crazy thing is that that model has left us financially drained, needing to use creative accounting methods and at the bottom of the table. Ironically, the quest for 'good football' has bought mainly turgid, tippy-tappy rubbish anyway. To quote from Frozen - Let it go.

We are a basket case of a club. We aren't getting Rafa. People need to understand that in our situation Steve Cotterill or Lee Sharpe would be realistic appointments. If we get a halfway decent manager, the owner (whoever that currently is) will have pulled off a masterstroke. We can't be anti Allardyce, McClaren, Jakanovic(please), Warnock, Crowley, Wagner, Howe, Cook, Cooper or even Rowett. In our situation any of them or similar would be far better than we should be expecting. 

It was going ok until you mentioned rowett

[angieram]

19 minutes ago, Big Bad Bob said:

FFS, what is wrong with some people? 

I don't normally get involved in the tittle tattle, but some people need to give their heads a wobble.

Derby County are a club steeped in history. We were one of the founding teams of the original football league. We currently have an owner who has invested millions in his own money and arguably more in his time and desire for the club. We have a fantastic modern stadium with a capacity of 33,597. We have an equally fantastic, and arguably better training facility and academy and products from the academy. There have been plenty of people that have been here (players and coaches) saying we are a premier league set up. We have a decent sized fan base selling 27 / 28k each home game and that is after 9 years in the Championship. If we were to get in the premier league we'd be selling every home game out and if we were to stay there, I'd argue that we could sell in excess of 40k tickets. 

Derby County has the potential to be a great club and would be an attractive proposition to anyone with passion and desire to achieve something. 

So how about lets stop with the negativity and get behind the owner, potential new owner / investor and manager? Covid-19 is depressing enough without the wrist slashers bringing the club down. 

Do you know, Bob, I am with you on this one. 

I don't know if it's the insatiable social-media-fed drive to score a few likes/laughs, the "look how tough I am" pose, the need to proved right or a genuine outpouring of concern because of the insecure situation the club finds itself in both on and off the pitch. There are a number of endlessly repetitive negative posters that make coming on here less and less enjoyable.

None of know where our current journey will take us, but there are an equal number of potentially positive outcomes as negative ones. 

Any chance of a bit of balance?

[Brammie Steve]

1 hour ago, oldtimeram said:

Thank you Mel Morris for getting us into this awful situation.  Give yourself a pat on the back 

Bovine pat?

[oldtimeram]

5 minutes ago, Brummie Steve said:

Bovine pat?

Yes a good idea

[BaaLocks]

52 minutes ago, Big Bad Bob said:

Derby County are a club steeped in history. So are Sunderland, Bolton, Preston, Blackpool

We were one of the founding teams of the original football league. Whoop de doo - someone tell Accrington Stanley it's all going to be fine. Get north of the border and let Third Lanark know they've got nothing to worry about.

We currently have an owner who has invested millions in his own money and arguably more in his time and desire for the club. We have a fantastic modern stadium with a capacity of 33,597. So do many, many clubs - Bolton, Sunderland, Middelsborough, Huddersfield, Cardiff, Swansea - wave the stats away if you think somehow the fact we've got a second tier or higher capacity makes it all good.

We have an equally fantastic, and arguably better training facility and academy and products from the academy. There have been plenty of people that have been here (players and coaches) saying we are a premier league set up. In every capacity except our ability to win football games - and that hasn't changed for all but three or four seasons this century. We are entitled to the square root of feck all.

We have a decent sized fan base selling 27 / 28k each home game and that is after 9 years in the Championship. If we were to get in the premier league we'd be selling every home game out and if we were to stay there, I'd argue that we could sell in excess of 40k tickets. Coulda, shoulda, woulda - not sure where the other 6k people would go btw.

Derby County has the potential to be a great club and would be an attractive proposition to anyone with passion and desire to achieve something. Just to be clear, I agree with you. But we have a number of very clear and apparent obstacles in front of us before we get there. Just giving it 'but we beat Chelsea in the League Cup in 1968 now get behind the team or you're not a real fan' is probably not going to be enough.

So how about lets stop with the negativity and get behind the owner, potential new owner / investor and manager? Covid-19 is depressing enough without the wrist slashers bringing the club down. Raa, raa, go Derby, go new owner (whoever you are), go new manager (whoever you are). Good enough?

Honestly, my intent is not to be negative, and I think the original post by Cornwall Ram wasn't either. But if you struggle with it then move on to the next post, like the ones you think tell you the positive stuff you want to hear. I'm not going to 'stop with the negativity' just coz you think it's the right thing to do. My posts, my views, my content - don't like them, move on to the next one.